Max Meets Ava
by Dragonflychaser
Summary: The sequel to Ava's Beginnings! For all you Ava fans. You don't need to read the first to know what's going on in this story. Max meeting Ava and all the stuff that follows. Time to go save Ava's friends and kick whitecoat butt. Between second and third.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Maximum Ride - one, two, three, or soon to be four.**

**A/N: Yay for the sequel! Go Ava! Go Max! Sorry, I'm excited that I've started posting the second story. As usual, folks, this story is pre-written. But if you want to give me some friendly advice on my writing style for when I write my next story, go ahead. And thank you to all the Ava fans!**

* * *

Chapter 1

Ava flapped her wings harder, putting on another burst of speed and altitude. She looked back – the Erasers were still following. She flew on.

* * *

MAX P.O.V.

The Flock and I were flying out of Florida, away from the nightmare that called itself Itex. Right now were over/in (which word do you _use_ when you're flying?!) Mississippi. It was a quiet flight, if you don't count Nudge talking nonstop and saying she was hungry every five minutes. After a few hours, we flew over the Mississippi River. Nudge immediately changed the topic.

"Oh, cool! Max, can we, like, go swimming? Cause it's really big, and we could swim in it if we really wanted to..."

I was about to say no anyway, when Fang decided to contribute his morbid piece of information for the day.

"There are bull sharks in the Mississippi River." Thank you for that lovely fact, Mr. Logic.

Nudge said, "Oh." Short. And then she announced she was really hungry. This time Angel and Gazzy admitted to their hunger pains too. So I started looking for a place to eat across the River, and spotted a Dairy Queen. Hey, food AND ice cream. So we went there. After an unbelievably uneventful lunch, we left and took off. I mean, it was suspiciously quiet. Maybe 'cuz I'm used to Erasers bursting in on us halfway through our burgers.

Around 4:00, we were flying over some northeastern town in Louisiana. I mention this seemingly insignificant event because something happened there. We were just flying along, minding our own business, when something rammed into me. I dropped a few feet from the collision and looked around wildly for what had hit me. Get this – there was nothing there. The rest of the Flock had noticed and looked as bewildered as I did. Right around then the Voice decided to help me out (hurray).

_To your right. Now left. Straight ahead. Grab._

And my hand closed around something. The something started twisting around, until the weirdest thing happened. This girl just materialized out of nowhere, her ankle in my hand. She had red-brown hair and blue eyes, and red-brown wings. From that position (being held by her ankle) she was trying as hard as she could to stay in the air. Because it's kind of hard to fly when you're being held like that. Angel was looking at the girl, so I guessed she was reading Invisible Girl's mind.

But not a lot of progress was made in the way of introductions, as Fang pointed at some flying Erasers coming towards us. We got ready to fight.


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Max.**

**A/N: Sorry I didn't update last week, I was on a weekened retreat. I left right from school and didn't get back until Sunday night.**

* * *

Chapter 2

Iggy and the Gasman were exploding Erasers left and right. It made you wonder how they got so many explosives. Fang was kicking some sorry Eraser's butt. And Angel was doing her new thing with making Erasers fall and fly into trees with her mind. Scary. And I was taking care of another Eraser... and holding onto Total at the same time. I set him down on the ground to make things easier for myself. Meanwhile, new girl was beating up an Eraser... aided by some rocks. Happily, Ari didn't seem to be with this pack.

The new girl screeched and I was going over to help her when someone beat me to it. This boulder came out of nowhere and hit the Eraser (who'd clawed her on the arm) on the head. He went down like a ton of bricks. After that incident, the rest of 'em beat it out of there, apparently fearing more flying rocks. We cheered, and landed (still cheering). I turned to Fang. "That was brilliant with the boulder."

Fang simply raised an eyebrow. "That wasn't me."

Same from the rest of the Flock. I whirled around to the newest bird kid. She was looking at the ground and playing with a piece of her hair. Man, she looked guilty.

"Where'd the rock come from?" I asked, now totally confused.

"Umm..." she mumbled.

"She's telekinetic," Angel contributed.

This got more gaping and some "wows." The kid was really nervous by now. So I asked her who she was. I got an indistinct mumble. Trying not to roll my eyes, I asked her again.

"Ava."

"So, Ava... any other things you'd like to explain or share? Like the fact that you can turn invisible?"

"She can turn invisible?" Iggy asked Gazzy.

"Well... I can generate force fields. And you guys already figured out the invisible and telekinetic part," said Ava, now a little less nervous.

The force field part got an approving "ooh" from Nudge. "Can you show us?" asked Gazzy excitedly.

He was hopping up and down, and the others looked interested. A force field would certainly come in handy beating up Erasers on a daily basis. Ava nodded in answer to his question, and put her hands straight out in front of her. A shimmering purple-colored bubble appeared around her. Gazzy started describing it to Iggy. "Go ahead, throw something," she said.

Fang threw a rock at the bubble... force field, and it bounced right off. Ava was grinning. The force field disappeared, and she asked us who we were. Fair is fair, so we completed the introductions.

"The Gasman, a.k.a. Gazzy. Can mimic voices...

"Angel. Mind reading and influencing people, breathing underwater, talking to fish...

"Nudge, psychometric. Talks a lot.

"Iggy, blind but excellent hearing and other senses. Also a pyromaniac, as you saw during that recent butt kicking... Gazzy helps him.

"Fang... nothin' yet.

"...Total," I said as he jumped off the ground into Angel's arms. "Talking dog."

"And me. I'm Max, short for Maximum. All I've really got is super speed – in the air. Say... 200, 250 mph."

New girl... er, Ava... nodded. "Well, at the risk of repeating myself (smile), only those three I told you about. Which place did you come from?"

"The School in California. Home of the scum who call themselves scientists. You?"

"Arkansas. Decided to call it the 'University,' from the way they acted around true. Bunch of stuck-up jerks."

Nudge broke in. "How did you escape? Did someone help you? Do you know who your parents are? 'Cuz we can help you find that out. Your powers are really cool, when'd you find out about them? I –"

Mercifully, Fang held up his hand, which cut her off. Then he spoke: "We can talk while we fly, because we don't want to make it easy for Erasers to find us. Or are we setting up camp somewhere?"

Umm... I had no idea. And it looked like Angel was getting details on how Ava had escaped, without her knowing, or her permission (a.k.a., mind reading). I gave Angel a look. Those sicko whitecoats can leave you with some nasty memories. Ava could tell us when she was ready. Meanwhile, back to the usual "what-now" dilemma. Of course, being the leader, it was my decision. Big whoop.

"Well," I said, "let's fly for about two more hours, then we'll look for some place to sleep. My credit card should still work, so we can stay in a hotel." (Sounds of cheering. You're only really appreciated as leader if everyone gets a warm bed and a good breakfast.)


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Maximum Ride. I do not own the Holiday Inn. But I do own Ava and all her friends.**

* * *

Chapter 3

We ended up staying in a Holiday Inn, with two hotel rooms (adjoining door open) and eight boxes of pizza we bought. After we'd finished eating, Ava decided to share a little more of her story.

"I'm fifteen now. When I was twelve, I was kidnapped. It was a school day, too, so nobody really knew I was missing for hours. At the –"

"Wait a minute," I said. "Kidnapped? How'd you get the wings and stuff then, did they graft the avian DNA on while you were there?"

Ava replied, "Actually, no. From what they did and what they decided to say, I figured it out. Apparently, it was grafted on when I was in the womb. But they did it so that it was dormant. The genes became active when I was exposed to certain amounts of radiation over a period of time. Eventually my bone structure and organs changed, and the wings grew in. It wasn't until a year ago that the powers made their debut."

Everyone was quiet. This girl had known her parents. She really knew what she was missing, and had had to deal with it. Along with the fact that she'd been introduced to real physical pain when she was twelve – I'm guessing she didn't have to deal with _that_ before she was kidnapped. And what about her parents?

I asked Ava if she was planning to go back home. I got a bitter smile in return.

"They told me they blew up my house. With my family inside. Not exactly much for me to go back to."

Fang frowned, and Iggy and I scowled. The whitecoats were scumbags.

"How exactly did you get out of there?" Angel asked, looking concerned. Although she'd probably found out already. She shook her head in my direction. _Shoot, Angel!_ I thought at her. _Ask permission or something._ She gave me a sheepish grin before Ava started.

"Telekinesis has its benefits." Ava grinned. "I practiced when nobody was looking, along with the other talents. Yeah, I found out about the telekinesis when one of those stupid scientists kept sticking me with a taser. I was getting really mad at him and I wanted to punch his ugly face in, when all of a sudden a row of test tubes that was nearby started shaking and then just shattered. Nobody knew how it happened, not even me at the time. But I kept having really weird things happen when I was around, so I kind of figured it out and started practicing. The looks on their sorry faces..."

We were all quiet now, not because of the story, but because we were tired. So we all showered (took a while) and picked a spot to sleep. While I was tucking Angel in, I asked her.

"So, what do you think of her?"

"She's okay," said Angel, my baby. "She's sad and angry about her family. Most of the story was true. She kind of lied about her name though, because she changed it a while ago. Her real name's Karen O'Grady. And her mom was a whitecoat. They grafted the DNA on without her mom's permission. Like Ari kind of..."

Angel looked sad. "She's a nice person though. She felt really bad when she found out about her mom."

I nodded, and hugged Angel to make her feel better. I said good night to the rest of the Flock, and fell asleep wondering about Ava.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer.**

**A/N: I'm sorry I only gave you guys this one short chapter. I got mixed up on what chapters I had and hadn't posted. The story is all saved on another computer, and the one I use to post chapters is in the basement. So I transfer on a floppy – and this was the one chapter on the floppy. I also didn't want to run up two flights of stairs and reboot the other computer to get one more chapter. Sorry. :(**

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4

The next morning I woke up to find the window open. I walked over to it, wondering _why_ it was open. I was about to close it when I saw this really humongous bird. On closer inspection, it proved to be Ava, enjoying a solitary morning flight. Or not so solitary, because I saw some other winged thing flying in her direction. I flew out the window to warn her. Do I have to save _everybody?_

_Well, since you're going to save the world, it's good practice._

Stupid Voice. Halfway to Ava, she noticed the other person/thing in the sky. Her reaction was the exact opposite of what I was expecting. A smile spread across her face, and she flew toward the flying dot. It spotted her, too, and flew faster. I went into super speed.

When I got there, Ava was trying to hug another winged girl and stay in the air at the same time. It's a hard thing to do, and I should know. I've tried it. Ava turned to me, grinning.

"Max, this is my friend Ichthia. She escaped too."


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Max.**

**A/N: Yay! Ichthia escaped and kicked whitecoat and Eraser butt!**

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5

So now we had another mouth to feed. The two were currently talking.

"How'd you get out of your cage? This is great!"

"Yeah, I hate titanium. When you were escaping, you were nervous and everything. So, of course..."

"...Things went haywire. I need to get better control. Well, at least you're here. Anyone follow you?"

"The usual slobbering psycho dogs with guns. They flew away yelping after I banged two of their heads together."

"I thought you said they had guns."

"Came up behind them really fast. And I grabbed the guns and bent them in half. Some of the Erasers hadn't heard about me yet – you should have seen their faces."

"I take it from your conversation that you have super strength," Iggy said as he decided to join in. "And do we get an intro, or do we just say 'hey, you' every time we want to get your attention?"

"Oh, sorry," said Ava. "I only got to tell Max... this is Ichthia. Avian-ichthyic hybrid or whatever you call it. Specialties: strength, talking to fish, and controlling water. For Iggy's benefit: black hair, blue eyes, about five and a half feet, silvery gray wings."

"What's 'ichthyic'?" Gazzy piped up.

"Has to do with fish." (Fang)

"Umm... Ichthia..." I interrupted. "Is the fish and water thing all you have from the DNA? Or is there something else?"

She grinned. "I'll show you the next time we're by a large enough body of water to swim in."

"And how exactly did you get away from the whitecoats?"

"That would be indirectly contributed to me," said Ava. "When I get really emotional, stressed or something like that, my telekinesis can get a bit out of control. Like those test tubes I told you about. During my escape I was really panicked. Things were flying all over the place. I guess I broke Ichthia's cage without realizing it."

"Why couldn't you have just escaped before if you have super strength?" asked Total.

Ichthia jumped. Talking dogs were obviously new to her. I explained about Total and repeated his question. This time we got an answer.

"The cage was reinforced steel or something. Some strong metal. _Very_ difficult to break, even for me."

I was thinking. And then I asked the obvious. "Well, are we going to rescue everyone else who was there or not?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Still don't own Max. Or Fang. Or Angel. Or…**

**A/N: Rescue mission! Rescue mission! Beat up the whitecoats! (I'm eating a lollipop sugar.)**

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6

We were flying again, this time on our way to Arkansas. Nudge was asking both Ava and Ichthia a million questions. Iggy was carrying Total and talking to Gazzy. I just knew, and was willing to bet (even though I didn't have anything to bet) that they were talking about explosives and blowing up the University. Angel was just flying, as was Fang. And of course, I was being bugged by my Voice.

_Hello, Max._

Shut up.

_Somebody's in a bad mood._

Stupid –

_It will happen today._

Huh? What? What'll happen?

_You'll see._

Aw, no, come on! At least tell me if it's good or bad.

_It depends on who you are and what your viewpoint is._

Grrr.


	7. Chapter 7

**I gave Fang a power. :)**

**And I don't own Max.**

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 7

Half an hour after my annoying conversation with that stupid Voice, we had bad news. There were Erasers heading our way. Angel looked at them for half a second; then glared. "Ari's with them."

I scowled. Shoot, couldn't anybody ever give me a break? Total was transferred to Iggy's backpack. Ava turned invisible to give herself an advantage. And Ichthia just set her jaw and curled her hands into fists. Meanwhile, the Gasman had pulled out some matches and Iggy was holding dynamite. It's a love-hate thing with the dynamite.

We pretty much collided in mid-air.

Ichthia was breaking Eraser bones left and right. She hadn't been exaggerating when she'd told us she had super strength. I popped an Eraser's eardrums and turned around to find Ari right there. Damn it.

"Hi, Max. Did you miss me?"

"Hmm, let me think... NO," I shot back – along with a roundhouse kick aimed at his ugly head.

He ducked it and missed. Rats. I threw a left hook, and when I was turned around Ari kicked me in the back. Ouch... Fang saw, and boy did he look mad. He started over quickly, and Ari decided to make something out of it.

"Aw, is Fang defending you, Max? Does he like you? Aww..."

I kicked him in the chest with all I had – a lot, because I was really, really _mad_. Only knocked the breath out of him. And then he started beating _me_ up.

Fang got there and tried to help but some of Ari's Erasers buddies held him back. Then something happened.

Fang was being held by Erasers, fuming mad, when all of a sudden he shot fire out of his hands. Whoa. Where'd that come from? Caught him by surprise too, but then he got this evil grin on his face, and set Ari's foot on fire. (Yay!!!) It took Ari and the other Erasers a few seconds to let it sink in. Then they flew around, frantically trying to put it out. What a moment.

"Hey Ari," I yelled, not able to resist, "you're on fire!"

Actually got a grin from Fang.

_See, Max,_ (the Voice chimed in) _it depends on who you are._

Okay, the Voice had a point.


	8. Chapter 8

**Don't own Max.**

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 8

Right now we were in some little motel on the Louisiana-Arkansas border. Fang had a miniature audience, the most interested people being – of course – Iggy and Gazzy.

"Do it again!" the Gasman said excitedly

"No, he's _not_ going to do it again, he'll burn down the building," I said, being the no-fun-person as usual. "Actually, Ichthia, you said something about large bodies of water, would you be able to use the bathtub?"

Ichthia nodded and led the way into the bathroom. With eight people and one dog, it was pretty crowded. Ichthia plugged in the bathtub drain and started the water. When the tub was full, she turned it off; rolled up her pants and took off her socks and shoes. Then said, "Watch."

We did. Ichthia grew webbing between her fingers, and her feet transformed into fins. She motioned to her neck, and we noticed gill slits. Then she... blinked? She had a second pair of eyelids, clear ones. She closed them and got in the water. She lay under the water for a few seconds; then sat up.

"Hey, I'll show you a water trick."

She moved her hands like she was picking something up out of the air. The water rose up in that direction. Then she moved her hands again, and the water twisted into an orb. She did some more tricks with the water and got some "oohs." Nudge described everything to Iggy. When Ichthia was done, she got out and drained the tub. Then she made all her fins and scales go away, along with the extra eyelids and gill slits.

"That was cool!" said Angel.

"Do it again! Do it again!" came Total's response.

I sighed. "You guys, give her a break. Fang too," I added before Gazzy could start that again. "Let's order some pizza or something."


	9. Chapter 9

**I am not James Patterson. Translation: I do not own any of his books. But if you steal any of my characters, whom I do own, I will be very sad. And Ichthia will kick your butt for stealing her.**

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9

Fifty minutes later, we were eating Chinese food. Ava and Ichthia talked between bites. When we finished, we cleaned up and sat in a ring on the floor.

"So," I said, "any idea how many people we're rescuing from the University?"

"About four, maybe more if they brought anyone else there," said Ava.

"Leti, Nat, Myles, and Luna," added Ichthia.

"Meaning..." Iggy replied.

"Leti's cheetah DNA; Myles, avian; Nat's got fish, and Luna's part wolf," Ichthia told him.

I shifted uncomfortably. "When you say wolf, you don't mean –"

"She's not an Eraser," Ava reassured me. "She doesn't morph. They grafted the DNA onto her a bit differently. She's got a tail, wolf ears, canines, and really sharp fingernails. Also dark brown hair and yellowish eyes. But she's not an Eraser. She's also twelve."

"What do the others look like?" asked Fang.

"Leti has a tail. He's got blond hair with black spots in it, and dark brown spots all over his face. He's fourteen," Ava told us.

"Nat has webbed fingers and toes," Ichthia cut in. "They can grow into fins when he's in water. He has gill slits, and a second pair of eyelids, like me. Fourteen." Ava coughed.

"And lastly, Myles," finished Ava. "Red wings, red spiky hair, blue eyes. Fifteen and a half."

Ichthia coughed this time, and Angel giggled. Who knows why, sometimes hanging out with mind reading people is annoying. I ignored them and announced it was now time to crash. The Flock and I stacked fists; Ava and Ichthia watched. Then we went to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

In the morning we left the hotel and flew once again towards the University. Ava and Ichthia had told us it was on the outskirts of some town named Ashdown, in a forested area.

"Security info," said Fang.

"Erasers... ground and air... and Crocs," said Ava.

"They're sending a bunch of slow crocodiles after us?" Iggy snorted. "They're losing it."

"Not crocodiles, _Crocs_," Ava shot back. "Crocodilian recombinants. They morph like Erasers, and they're especially deadly in water."

Everyone was quiet for a minute. Oh. "What's the building like?" I asked.

Ichthia's turn to talk. "It looks like a mansion-sized house. Surrounded by two fences, with cyclone fencing along the top and some watchtowers. The building itself: two floors look like a normal house, but a hidden elevator, or a flight of stairs, take you to the basement, where the universal language of torture takes place. Or you can take a shortcut through the air vents. Comes in handy. If you go in the elevators, be careful where you get off. To the left are the labs, and the Erasers and Crocs. The good guys are on the right."

I nodded. We had about an hour left of flying, we couldn't stop for food. And we'd all be on the lookout for Erasers – because they were definitely on the lookout for us.

As we flew over a forested area in Ashdown, Ichthia bent her wings and swooped down to land. We followed, to talk and figure out how we were breaking in.

"Probably at night," I said. "It'll be harder for them to see us. In the meantime, let's get some rest. I have watch."

We stacked fists and I positioned myself on a rock. Then I felt the hair on my neck stand up. I spun around quickly. "Geez, Fang!"

"It's my watch."

"No it isn't," I argued.

"Yes, it is. You had the second-to-last watch back at the hotel. You take a nap."

Stubborn. I reluctantly got down off the rock and went to curl up under a tree. And promptly fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer.**

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 11

I woke up in a cage. How the H-E- double hockey sticks did THAThappen?! I saw Gazzy in a cage next to me and poked him through the bars. He jumped; then saw it was me.

"Hi, Max."

"Gazzy, what the heck happened?"

"I missed part of it, but Fang said Erasers came charging in with tranquilizer darts. Ava and Iggy and Angel got away, but we got knocked out. They shot one in you even though you were asleep."

Stupid Erasers.

_You shouldn't have been so close to the University, Max._

Shut up! I figured that out already.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Max." It was Ichthia. "It was stupid of me to have us land so close. And I should have seen it coming with the darts. They're too scared to come near me otherwise."

"Hey Ichthia, do we get introductions?" someone asked.

I looked around to see the person who'd spoken – a blond boy. Except his blond hair had black spots in it and he had large brown freckles on his face. I saw a tail twitch. Due to my great instinct on such matters (AKA remembering what Ichthia and Ava had told us) I guessed this was Leti.

"Leti, these guys are Max, Fang, Gazzy, Total, and Nudge. Flock, meet Luna, Leti, Myles, and Nat. And Drake."

"Who's Drake?" Nudge asked.

"Drake's a lizard with bat wings. He breathes fire, so we call him a dragon," said a redheaded boy who had to be Myles.

"How exactly are we getting out of here?" said Fang, stating the obvious question – which I, as leader, was required to answer. Lucky me.

_Get used to it, Max._

Argh!!! I don't need a running commentary!

Okay. Escape plan... Ichthia? No, they'd put her back in that steel cage or whatever it was made out of. Nobody else had super strength. Wait... Fang?

"Fang!"

"What?" he sounded like he was in a bad mood. Well, he was in a dog kennel.

"Can you melt the bars on Ichthia's cage?"

"How should I know."

"Well, try it!" Sheesh...

"I might burn her."

Oh. Yeah. Oops... Okay, plan B.

"Try it, Myles," Leti said. Try what?

"It doesn't always work," said Myles.

_What_ doesn't always work? "If it'll get us out of here, I think you should try it," I butted in.

"Fine," Myles sighed. He held out his right hand while concentrating. A few seconds later an empty ice cream cone appeared in his hand with a little "pop." Nudge's mouth dropped open.

"Cool," said Gazzy.

"Umm... How does this help us?" I asked.

"Sorry, wrong thing," Myles told us. He concentrated again.

This time he got a pair of bolt cutters. He cut the lock on his cage and stepped out, proceeding to release each one of us.

"Cool, how does that work? Can you -"

I cut Nudge off. "Nudge, we are trying to _escape._ For that, we need to be _quiet._"

Leti jumped up onto the kennels and called down to Myles for a screwdriver. The first time Myles accidentally got the _drink_. Then he got the tool. It was handed up to Leti, who used it to open an air vent for us to climb through. So far, so good.

Luna, Nudge, and Nat climbed up and into the air vent. Then Total was handed up, along with Drake, who was asleep. I was about to follow when we heard something going on outside.

----------------------------------------------------------

**A/N: For those of you who don't know, there's an alcoholic drink called a screwdriver. Also, please review. Is Max or anyone else out of character? I'm really sorry if they sound that way. But show some love and tell me if this is good.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer.**

**A/N: A bit of Ava-centered third person now…**

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 12

Ava hadn't been able to sleep back in the clearing. And when the Erasers showed up, she'd been glad she hadn't. It woke everyone up except Max, who was really out. Ava wanted to yell in frustration when she saw the darts. Stupid Erasers. Iggy and Angel were close by, so she was able to put up a force field around them so that the tranquilizer darts simply bounced off of it. They had flown away quickly; the force field still up.

They landed about half a mile away. Ava had put down the force field a while ago; she would need to save her energy.

"What now?" Iggy asked, still angry about the Erasers. Angel clutched Celeste.

"One minute..." Since Ava had been mad and panicking, her telekinesis had gotten a little out of control. A few rocks were floating around, and Angel had to grip her bear more tightly to hold onto it. Ava took a few deep breaths and calmed down enough to put the rocks back on the ground. "Okay... It'll take about two hours for the tranquilizer to wear off; it wouldn't exactly go well if we went to get them now. But I say when we do go, we storm the place. It might catch them off guard."

Iggy thought about it and nodded. Then he grinned evilly. "I'll get the explosives ready."

"Yeah," said Angel. "Let's really blow them away."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two hours later they flew back towards the University. Ava wouldn't put up a force field unless they saw Erasers or Crocs. They reached the front door of the building without incident (they'd flown over the inner and outer fencing).

"Let's knock on the door," said Iggy.

They lit the dynamite fuse and Ava quickly put up a force field.

BOOM.

Any Erasers standing by the door were now possibly dead, or just unconscious. They ran inside, force field still up. Ava, Iggy, and Angel ran towards the elevators. When they got inside Ava put the force field, causing Angel to look at her questioningly.

"I'm saving energy. I'll put it back up right before the doors open," Ava answered.

Angel nodded. Ava listened; then began counting under her breath. "Three... two... one..."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There were about fifty Erasers waiting outside the elevator. They hadn't bothered bringing tranquilizer dart guns; those were really more for Ichthia. Ava grinned. This was gonna be good.

The force field she had generated expanded rapidly and acted like a shock wave, knocking the Erasers over like bowling pins. When the Crocs showed up they got the same treatment. They ran to the right, and burst into the room where the others were.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N: Everyone who agrees say "yay for bombs and rapidly expanding force fields that act like shock waves." :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Don't own Max.**

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 13

MAX P.O.V.

All of a sudden, the door flew open. I shouted for the others to go and I didn't look back as I hurriedly got on top of the cages.

"Max, wait, it's us!"

We all stopped. Then we thought, we don't to stick around and get caught again. So all of us scrambled onto the cages and started cramming ourselves into the air vent. Not a moment too soon, either; security had shown up. Ava managed to put up a force field right before they started shooting tranquilizer darts like crazy.

A few minutes into the vent, Ichthia punched a hole through the metal and the wall beyond. We crawled through it, and got ready to get out of there.

"Hello, Ichthia. How are you?"

"[insert swear word of your choice," said Ichthia.

We turned around to see a fully morphed Croc. Man, those things are _ugly._ This one had a sort of big toothy grin on his face, and he was pointing a tranquilizer gun at Ichthia. She looked _mad._ Ava and the rest of her group tensed. Drake was awake by now, and you could hardly see his head through the smoke now pouring out of his nose and mouth.

"Whaddya want now, _Lizard Man._"

"Oh, come on now, your memory can't be that bad," he said in what he must have thought was an innocent-sounding voice. Ha. "Why don't you come back to your cage, and I'll arrange a date for us this Friday night." Ichthia was seething, and I could definitely empathize.

"I wouldn't go out with you if you were the last _thing_ on Earth," she snarled.

"Okay, have it your way."

He pulled the trigger. Ava tried to put up a force field, but she was a second too late; the dart found its mark and she was knocked out.

Huh?

"It's easier to shoot you without your little buddy protecting you," he grinned at Ichthia.

Oh, shoot. We were definitely dead meat now. Wait, where was Drake? I looked around and then I saw him. He was right behind the reptilian creep, about to grab the gun. This could go wrong in so many ways. But he pulled it off. Drake burnt the creep's hand and grabbed the gun. Then he flew over to us and landed on Fang's shoulder.

Fang took that as a sign and blasted a fireball at the Croc. He was knocked down and now doubly burned. We took advantage and took off.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Reviews would be nice. They let the poor author know what people think of the story.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

You're probably wondering how we flew. Well, it was _not_ fun.

Myles carried Ava. Ichthia, with her super strength and all, carried Leti and Nat, who were arm wrestling in midair. I was glad I wasn't her. Fang carried Luna, who was sulking because she was being carried. I had Total again. Drake had gone back to sleep and was being carried by Iggy. How fitting. When we landed, almost everyone in the older group (us ancient teenagers) had sore arms I was stuck wit ha talking dog for a whole hour! And the whole time he kept asking me to fly _fast!_ Argh!

We rested and waited for Ava to wake up. There was a pond not too far away, so Nat went swimming. Later Angel and Ichthia joined him. After another hour, Ava moved. Drake flew over to her and nuzzled her hand. She slowly sat up. "Stupid Chris."

"Agreed," said Myles. "He's a first-class [nasty swear."

"Language. There is a six year old, who shouldn't be cursing, here," I threw in. Though I did agree with Myles.

Ichthia came back with Nat and Angel. "Chris is an idiot."

"Hear, hear," said Nat.

"Yeah, he's just like dumb old Ari," Gazzy contributed.

"You wouldn't be talking about me now, would you?" came a jeering voice above us. Speak of the unwanted dog boy... Ari and his usual little bunch of Eraser buddies.

"I want a group in the air and a group on the ground_ now!_" Ichthia was barking out orders. From what we'd seen so far, she was co-leader with Ava.

We took off along with Ava, Ichthia, and Myles. Total, Leti, Luna, and Nat spread out on the ground. Leti's tail was twitching and he'd unsheathed retractable claws under his fingernails. Luna and Nat adopted a fighting stance, and Luna's tail was rigid.

Let the games begin.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fur and feathers went flying. Apparently Luna had wolf-like nails; she was scratching up Erasers pretty badly. Leti was causing some damage too. Myles had somehow gotten a crowbar and was smashing bones. Ichthia was currently fighting five at once, and Ava had just broken a few wings with telekinesis. We were kicking butt as well. And Fang set Ari on fire again, which was a _very_ nice bonus.

Eventually the Erasers flew away (the ones that could still fly, anyway). We checked for injuries. Nat was the worst, as all his powers were fish related and not much help on land. He had two cracked ribs, a black eye, and a bloody nose. Ichthia took one look at him and went over to the pond to make some ice for him.


	15. Chapter 15

**I don't own Max.**

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 15

Another day, another place to sleep. We skipped the hotel this time and stayed outside. Iggy and Ichthia had first watch. Myles decided we all needed a treat and made ice cream cones out of thin air. They were delicious.

Luna yelped. Gazzy had gotten mad at her and pulled her tail. I was going to tell Gazzy off when we heard a responding barking sound from the woods around us. Luna looked surprised and then paused as if she was trying to remember something. Then she let out a series of yips and barks. We stared. For the next five minutes, Luna "talked" with a fox. When she was done she gave us a sheepish grin and started playing with a piece of grass.

"So... what'd you say?" asked Leti.

"He wanted to know if I was okay or if I needed help. I said no, and then we just talked about stuff," she said, still looking sheepish. There was a pause.

Ava broke the awkward silence. "Max, I think we should split up. A group of twelve is easier to catch, and I don't want to be a problem for you guys."

Of course, there were some objections. "And just where will you go?" I asked.

"Not sure yet..." said Ichthia. "Maybe Tennessee, just over the border."

We were quiet again. After half an hour of just sitting there, thinking, we went to bed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When we woke up Iggy made breakfast. We packed up and walked for a while. We parted at a convenience store. Ichthia picked up Luna, Leti, and Nat (must have been uncomfortable for them), and she, Myles, Ava, and Drake sadly and slowly flew away. We all waved as they flew over the store, and eventually, out of sight.

Another adventure at an end; more good friends now gone.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N: Guess what. I am now asking for reviews. (Please?) Did you all have good Christmases?**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

A week later we were flying when we saw what looked like a flying lizard. Drake. He came zooming happily towards us, with a piece of paper tied to his hind leg. He perched himself on top of Fang's head (ha!).

Drake was handed off to Iggy, who removed the paper and gave it to me. I unrolled the paper and read it out loud:

"Dear Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, and Total,

"I hope you're all okay. We made it to Tennessee in one piece. We found a big, isolated, broken-down house. We've been fixing it up and selling stuff anonymously online to get money and buy stuff. Myles' power also helps.

"It's okay so far. Nobody's found us, so that's a good sign. We're not too far from a river, so we can go swimming. We also accidentally saw Ichthia and Nat kissing the other day, so they're temporarily not talking to us.

"I guess I shouldn't talk though, because Myles gave a necklace he made, then went and hid for two hours because he'd embarrassed himself. Leti and Luna think we're all crazy.

"Please send back a reply with Drake, we miss you guys. Come over anytime you like, I drew a map on the back of the letter.

"Ava."

"Ooh!" said Nudge excitedly (again). "Can we go? We can follow Drake, and we could spend a few days and help them and stuff, especially because you have your credit card, Max, and..." Nudge rambled.

I held up my hands in a sign of self-defense. "Wait a minute Nudge. Let's talk this over." Nudge deflated. "Okay Fang, your opinion?"

He shrugged. Oh, like that helps me. So the Voice decided to "help."

_You're supposed to save the world. You can't go visit people all over the country._

Couldn't keep quiet for more than a week, could you. Go bug someone else.

_Okay, Max, how about a deal._

Now I'm suspicious.

_You can go stay at Ava's for about two days..._

Catch is...

_You listen to me for a whole week; because that's the amount of time I didn't talk to you._

That's a rotten deal.

_It's your choice._

I hate you. And Angel and Gazzy and Nudge are going to hate me.

"...The stupid Voice just offered me a deal," I announced. Everyone turned towards me. "He said if we stay for two days..." Nudge cheered. Fang shot her a look. "I have to listen to him for a week." Quiet.

Then Fang said, "Well, the Voice only talks to you."

"Thanks for being considerate and caring." Fang shrugged.

"Please, Max?" asked Angel.

I sighed, unrolled the paper again, and said, "Okay... we're heading east..." Cheers from everyone except Fang and me. And Drake, who couldn't talk anyway.

Another sigh. The two days would be nice, but after that it would be a _looong_ week. Oh well. We turned and headed toward our friends.

_End._

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N: At some point (curse my school, homework, and exams) I will put up the third story to this series. I'm not sure about the title yet, but it's still about Ava and everyone else. Thank you to everyone who reviewed: DeliciousMangoe, MoonStarWithWings, Waoka the winged vampire, and TYFFN. Reviews on the story in general now that it's finished? Thanks!**


End file.
